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Year End 2016

The only things left in the garden are a few green tomatoes and some almost orange pumpkins. At this point I’m happy to be done but also sad that it’s over. The summer wasn’t too awfully warm and we got a decent amount of moisture. I had one heck of a time getting plants to come up, but once they were started they produced well and I can’t complain about the year overall. Now I just have to collect a few seeds and till one last time and it will be ready for next year.

My first year of CSA was a success, meaning I haven’t heard any complaints, I got a few compliments, and I learned a lot. There are many changes to come on the CSA front next year and I’m excited to get started on all the planning that’s involved. Farmers Market was more of a challenge for me this year partly because of the CSA. I will need to up the quantity of plants by quite a bit next year to keep up with both and, you guessed it, that means it’s time to expand the garden again. I’d like to be able to offer a greater variety to both the CSA and market next year and an expansion is necessary.

I’m sure that my family is looking forward to me clearing the canning paraphernalia out of the kitchen, living-room, and hallway. For some reason my initial small pile on the counter starts to take over the house. This will have to wait for a few weeks yet, as I finish up some apples and tomatoes but the end is near. They are also probably waiting for the day that the clean laundry makes it out of baskets and into drawers and closets. I pick my battles during the summer and folding laundry rarely makes the cut.

This winter I plan to get a lot of my paperwork out of the way for next season, including trying out some recipes to share and getting them printed out. I’m also hoping to do a bit more writing and make some changes to my labels and cards. Maybe laundry won’t get done?

I’d like to say a very big THANK YOU, to all of those who made it down to the farmers market this year and especially to those that participated in the CSA. Neither would survive without great customers and members.